Trip Report First Annual Family Cruise Fun

The Details

Who: Me (Ashley) and my husband (Wes), Kingdom Konsultant Agents and Fellow WDWMagicers

When: June 20-22 at Walt Disney World and June 22-26 on the Disney Dream

What: 1st Annual Family Cruise! We had two days of pre-cruise fun at Walt Disney World and then went on a 4 Night Bahamian Cruise with two stops at Castaway Cay!

This was our 4th Disney cruise and our second time on the Disney Dream. More importantly this was the 1st Annual WDWMAGIC/Kingdom Konsultants Family Cruise!! I was so excited when this cruise was announced and knew I just had to go on this cruise. Wes and I were just on the Disney Magic back in January for a 7 night cruise so doing another cruise in the same year was kinda nuts but we made it work. There was no way I was going to miss out on all the fun!

Saturday June 20th – Walt Disney World Here We Come! Woo hoo!

We had an early morning flight…at 5:40am to be exact, which meant that we had to wake up at 3am. We spent the night at my parents house since they live closer to the airport and so my dad could give us a ride. It was a very early morning and I was going on pretty much no sleep. Every night before a Disney trip, I’m like that kid in the commercial where I’m just too excited to sleep!

So, I was up and getting ready at 3am and successfully managed to burn my left index finger on my hair straightener. Ouch! Not the smartest thing to do but that’s what happens when you are up at 3am and didn’t get any sleep.

(Oh and on the plane is when I realized that I forgot to pack my sweaters to wear to dinner. Goodness it had been quite a morning.)

We had a lot of suitcases this trip because I decided I was going to do fish extender gifts! This would be our first time participating so I was really excited. We had a group for fish extenders with the Family Cruise group but then I decided to also join another FE group with a Facebook group. I’m crazy, I know. What was I thinking joining two FE groups on my first go round? I just couldn’t help myself. I was so excited to be crafty!

We ended up with two additional suitcases filled with gifts. I was worried that if we checked those bags they may get lost and I didn’t want to risk it. So we had some extra luggage to carry on.

Our flight to Orlando was uneventful and we landed on time at 7:20am. Thank you Southwest! We got to DME a little before 8am. I LOVE getting to Orlando so early!!

For this short trip, we would be staying at Port Orleans Riverside. This would be our first time staying at this resort so I was excited to check it out.

Don’t look so excited Westin!

After I took the above picture, our bus driver said “Give me the camera” He was very nice to offer to take our picture.

My father in law complained after our January cruise that we didn’t take enough pictures of ourselves. Hahaha We were off to a good start this trip with a photo of the two of us within 20 minutes of the start of the trip.

We were the first ones to board the bus so we got seats right up front. Woo hoo! While we waited for other guests to board, we chatted with the bus driver. He was really nice and we talked about all kinds of things but mostly about the TV show, The Blacklist.

I love this sight!

We arrived at POR around 9am and went to check in.

Our room wasn’t ready when we checked in but they were able to get us a room that was. We ended up being upgraded to a pool view room. Whoop whoop! I didn’t care so much about the view since we were only there for two nights but I was really excited that we could drop off all our bags in our room.

Our room was in Magnolia Terrace so we made our way there. Our room was on the first floor.

Wes knows the drill that when we get into our room, I have to take pictures. He decided to photo bomb some of them.

Thanks, Wes.

I love all of the new bedspreads in the rooms. It makes the rooms feel a lot sleeker.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

And there he is again…

After I was done taking some pictures, we got ready to head to the Magic Kingdom!

My lens was just a little foggy Hahaha

That’s better

First Instagram of the trip

We caught one of the newer buses that are HUGE. We weren’t able to get a seat so we had to stand in the middle section. I have trouble reaching the hand rails so it was a little wild ride.

We casually walked down Main Street and then checked out the new hub area.

Wes likes to be meta and takes pictures of me taking pictures.

I really like the new hub area! The fountains and grassy areas are so nice!

If you’ve read my past trip reports, you know I have a few photo series going. I take pictures of trashcans, restroom signs and of myself popping out from behind things. Well, I was starting to run out of things to pop out behind and knew I needed to find a new series. I think I’ve found it…

Say hello to my new photo series!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

I kept asking Wes what we should do for the picture and this is what I got…

Real nice…

We had some time before our Space Mountain FP+ so what better way to kill time than to take some fun pictures around Tomorrowland!

Wes likes to continue taking pictures of me, especially if they are close up pictures.

Thanks Wes

Tomorrowland toes

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

We like to be meta and take pictures of each other taking pictures of each other.

I hadn’t been on the Mad Tea Party teacups in YEARS! I figured it was about time I go for a spin. I didn’t let Wes spin us though. I get motion sickness…that would have been bad.

Don’t look so excited…

Wooooooooo Teacups!!!

We had reservations for lunch at Be Our Guest at 11:45am so that’s where we went next.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

This guy looks so sad

We had ordered our meal ahead of time so we went in and grabbed a table in the Rose Gallery room. We seem to always pick this room.

Wes got the turkey sandwich and I went with the croque monsieur. Wes had gotten his sandwich before so he knew he liked it. I wanted to try something new and I was under whelmed with my sandwich. It was okay. I just didn’t think it was good enough to order again.

We decided to just split a cupcake. I had to pace myself on this trip Hahaha

I really love Be Our Guest. I know it’s so difficult to get a reservation and it’s over hyped but I love the restaurant. The details in there are so amazing. I could spend hours in there taking pictures. Oh…and the food is pretty good too!

We had a FP+ to use for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad so we made our way over to Frontierland.

Cute sign!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

After the wildest ride in the wilderness, we went to my favorite store…

Can you guess?

It’s Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe!

LOVE LOVE LOVE

I wanted to buy this ornament sooooo bad but I was worried about it making it from WDW to the cruise and then home. Next time, ornament…next time.

I bought a Fitbit a few weeks before this trip and I was really excited to use it in WDW. Let’s be honest…that’s the real reason I bought this thing! Hahaha I wanted to see how many steps I took on my trips. If you aren’t familiar with a Fitbit, it measures the number of steps, miles, floors climbed and calories burned every day. It also tracks my sleep so I know how restful my sleep was.

It was in the Christmas shop that I hit my daily goal of 10,000 steps. Woo hoo! And it was only 1pm! Dang.

We then went to my favorite restrooms on all of WDW property…the Tangled restrooms! It’s really crazy but I make sure to visit this restroom area every time I visit the Magic Kingdom. It’s just so cute!

Wes was really tired since we were up so early and my phone was running low on battery so we took a moment to rest and re-charge, both ourselves and my phone.

This is genius!

Wes took a power nap at the table and put his head down. When he sat up, he had lines from the table on his forehead. Hahaha

it’s a small world is a classic attraction that I feel like I have to do every trip. Wes hates it but he loves me so that’s where we went next.

Can you tell how much Wes loves this ride?

While stuck towards the end of the happiest voyage that ever sailed, I started getting group text messages from Pam (@Kingdom Konsultant) and Stacy (@mammaminnie) that they were in the MK. We were trying to figure out where to meet up. Wes and I had our last FP+ to use at the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train so we made our way there.

I wasn’t a huge fan of 7DMT the first time we rode, but I enjoyed it more this time. It was at this point that Wes was starting to fade really fast. We went in a gift shop in Frontierland to see if they had anything that may give him a boost. I suggested that he get straight up sugar. Hahaha The cast member behind the register heard me tell Wes to chug some sugar and suggested that he go with a Monster energy drink instead. That’ll work too!

Pam and Stacy and their families were still hung up at other attractions so Wes and I decided to grab a FP+ for the Jungle Cruise.

Had to get a picture of the new sign

Right as we got in line, the ride had to close because lighting struck in the area. Boo. I sent Pam a text and we made our way over to the Haunted Mansion to join her and the rest of the family.

It was so great seeing Pam and the rest of the family! We went on HM and by the time we were done, Stacy and her family were there to meet us.

It was still drizzling a little bit so we decided to go see the Country Bears. This was another attraction that I hadn’t done in a really long time.

After Country Bears, we parted ways with the rest of the group. We wanted to go check out Trader Sam’s before our dinner reservation at Ohana with everyone. I took a couple pictures on our way out.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

We hopped on the monorail and sat on opposite sides of the car. Wes started discreetly taking pictures of me but he wasn’t discreet enough because I caught him.

We got to the Polynesian around 4:30pm. Naturally I took some pictures of the new lobby on our way to Trader Sam’s.

I really like the new lobby at the Poly. I didn’t have any sentimental attachment to the old layout so I didn’t mind the refurb. This is the last Deluxe resort I need to check off my list and I’m hoping to stay here after all of the construction is completed.

Trader Sam’s had just opened at 4pm and there was already an hour wait! Yikes. We had dinner reservations at 5pm so we knew that we couldn’t wait to sit inside. I was bummed not to get inside but we were still able to go outside and enjoy some drinks. There was also a guy playing some Hawaiian music on the patio, which was really nice. I felt like I was in Hawaii!

Instagram!

While I was taking pictures of my drinks, a girl came over to me and said “I think I’ve read your trip reports.” Her and her husband were going to the luau at the Poly. Her name was also Ashley. She said she doesn’t post on here often but reads the trip reports. Hi Ashley if you are reading this! So neat!

As Ashley was leaving, Pam and her family arrived. They ordered some drinks and then we all went upstairs for our reservation.

Tonight we were meeting Carissa (@sissa216 ), Marie (@wannabeBelle ), Pam, Stacy and families. I was excited to get to spend some time with everybody and I was excited for the food. This was the first time Wes and I would be eating dinner at Ohana. Crazy, I know! We had only ever done breakfast here before so I was looking forward to trying dinner.

Mmm…Lapu Lapu

My camera didn’t focus on the right thing but oh well…No time to waste when food is served family style

My thoughts on Ohana for dinner…I thought the food was really good but I don’t know if it’s worth the price. I just can’t eat that much food! I loved the wings and the noodles and the salad was really good too. My Lapu Lapu was also wonderful. I think I will stick with Ohana for breakfast but I would go back for dinner. I would just probably make sure that I didn’t eat breakfast or lunch that day so I could eat my money’s worth. Hahaha

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

After dinner, Wes and I wanted to head back to the Magic Kingdom. Marie, Pam and family were headed that way too. I was so full after dinner that I suggested that we ride the PeopleMover 20 times in a row. Scott (@Mr KK) liked that idea so we made our way to Tomorrowland.

We didn’t end up going around 20 times. Darn. We went for one loop around Tomorrowland and then it was time for the Carousel of Progress. This is another attraction that I hadn’t done in years. I love that song!

Marie had a FP+ for 7DMT and I wanted to go on Peter Pan’s Flight so Wes and I walked with Marie towards Fantasyland. We would see Pam and fam tomorrow at Epcot. When we got to 7DMT, we noticed that there was only a 40 minute wait for standby. I really wanted to see what the standby queue looked like since we had only done FP+ so far. Wes knew that I wanted to see the queue so he suggested we get in line. I love that Wes puts up with me wanting to ride an attraction just to see what the queue looks like. Hahaha

We ended up only waiting about 25 minutes. Not too shabby. And now that I’ve seen the standby queue, I have no need to see it again.

After 7DMT, we made our way to grab a spot for Celebrate the Magic and Wishes. I absolutely LOVE Celebrate the Magic. The technology blows me away and I love the music that goes along with it. That plus Wishes…simply magical!

This was the first time I’d seen the summer portions of Celebrate the Magic. I love how they add new sections depending on the season.

During the Let it Go segment, there was a little girl next to us that starting belting out the song. She was ADORABLE! I would guess that she was probably 3 or 4. I know a lot of people are sick of all the Frozen stuff but this little girl’s reaction is why Disney keeps milking Frozen. The kids absolutely love it! It’s like Beatlemania. After the song, all of us around the little girl started clapping. It was a really cute moment.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

For Wishes, a really tall dude decided to stand in front of me and record the whole thing. I decided to make it work and just incorporate him into my picture.

Wes really wanted to leave after Wishes since we had already had such a long day but I wanted to stay. There were EMH until 2am and I really could have stayed, but Wes wasn’t having it. I was bummed that I didn’t get to see the new queue for Peter Pan’s Flight but I was okay with leaving. Wes, being the wonderful husband that he is, said alright, we’ll go on PP and then that’s it.

I think the wait time said around 40 minutes and we ended up waiting close to an hour. It was not a fun hour since Wes was tired and cranky. Hahaha I really did like the new queue though. As with the 7DMT queue, no need to see this queue again but I was glad that I saw it.

We returned from Neverland and made our exit. It had been a really long day and although I could have made it until 2am, I was fading fast.

[IM]http://i591.photobucket.com/albums/ss359/wishiwasatwdw/Family Cruise 2015/IMG_9820.jpg[/IMG]

We left the MK around 11:30pm and got back to POR around midnight. We got off at a bus stop that we thought was close to our building but we quickly realized that we had no idea where we were. Hahaha We had only been at the room for 30 minutes during the day and now it was dark and we were tired and lost. We wandered around and ended up cutting through some buildings. After about 10 minutes of looking, we found our building and our room.

Up next: Good times with a good friend and IllumiNations Dessert Party!

 

[blreinsel]

I'm loving your TR! Your pictures are amazing.

 

[Jessica Meier]

Loving it so far! Working on becoming a Disney TA so love that y'all do family trips! We are doing the Illuminations Dessert Party in October so am anxious to hear your thoughts!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

I'm loving your TR! Your pictures are amazing.

Thanks for reading!

Loving it so far! Working on becoming a Disney TA so love that y'all do family trips! We are doing the Illuminations Dessert Party in October so am anxious to hear your thoughts!

Thank you! I love being a TA! We have a great bunch of agents and it's so fun to get to travel together on occasion. More report and my thoughts on the dessert party coming up soon.

 

[Mindy16]

Woohoo! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip, I love your TR's!

 

[LilWalt]

Love your pictures. Feels like I am there. Keep them coming!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Woohoo! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip, I love your TR's!

Thanks @Mindy16

Love your pictures. Feels like I am there. Keep them coming!

Thank you @LilWalt! More report coming now...

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Sunday, June 21st – Lots of Steps, Food and Desserts!

This morning my friend Maggie was joining us. She moved to Orlando back in January, right before our January cruise, and I was really excited she could join us for a day in Epcot.

Wes decided the night before that he was going to sleep in a little bit this morning and join us later. Maggie got to the resort around 8am and I was still getting ready. I’m normally so good about getting up early on a Disney trip but I had to hit snooze a couple of times this morning. I ran out to meet Maggie and she was kind enough to pick us up some liquor for our cruise. I dropped the liquor off in the room and then we drove to Epcot.

I took a picture so we wouldn’t forget where we parked

We got to the gates around 8:45am. Not as early as I would have liked for a 9am opening but whatcha gonna do.

We made a beeline for Soarin with the rest of the crowd and then did Test Track single rider. I love the Single Rider lines! It’s so nice when you don’t care if you ride together.

Soarin Selfie

We stopped in Mouse Gear and I was excited to see pet products again!

Super cute!

LOVE this!!

Maggie had just bought her ticket this morning so she didn’t have any FPs+. We made our way to the FP+ kiosk so we could try to get her some that would overlap with the ones Wes and I already had. We did pretty good but there weren’t any available for Soarin so we switched ours to a Test Track time that would work for all of us.

We were a little hungry and thirsty so we stopped at the Fountain View.

We went and grabbed a seat on a bench a little ways away.

SUPERSTAR! (Said in the Mary Catherine Gallagher voice, of course)

I just had to post on Instagram

Wes sent me a text that he was on his way so we made our way up to SSE to meet him just in time for our FP+.

A little SSE mirror shot a la @HollyBelle

Wes’ face on both of the people in his future Hahaha

We stopped in Club Cool for some refreshments before we made our way to Living with the Land.

On our way to Living with the Land we ran into Marie. She joined us for a relaxing boat ride and then we parted ways so she could use her Soarin FP+.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

“Monorail…what’s it called? Monorail! Monorail!”

We hung out in the Seas for a while, cooling off and looking at all the fishys. It was so hot out today. It was nice to take some time to relax in the AC.

Maggie and I both have Fitbits so we were kind of competing today (hence my “lots of steps” sub-title). We decided to see how accurate each Fitbit was and figured out how many steps we each took to get from the Seas to Japan for our lunch reservation. Maggie’s Fitbit gave her way more steps than mine. No fair! Throughout the rest of the day, whenever we would stop and I would see Maggie still moving, I would then start walking in place. Then she would speed up her walking in place. We probably looked like crazy people!

We were eating lunch at Tokyo Dining today, another first for me. I love Teppan Edo but have never tried Tokyo Dining so I was really looking forward to it.

View from our table

Edamame appetizer

Wes got some lunch special that came with a lot of food! Maggie got a salad (BORING) so I didn’t even bother taking a picture. I went with the California Rolls.

All of our food was really good! I would absolutely go back here to eat again.

Wes’ lunch special also came with ice cream. Nice!

Our table was right next to an outlet so I charged my phone throughout our meal. I asked the waitress if it would be all right before I plugged anything in.

After lunch we toured around Japan.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

We continued our tour around World Showcase, stopping at the American Adventure pavilion, then Italy and Germany. In Germany, I thought I spotted Mary Ann (@MaryMcMagic) so I just shouted out “Mary Ann!”. Hahaha Sure enough, it was her. (When in doubt, just scream someone's name ) We stopped and chatted for a bit and then she was off to her lunch reservation at Via Napoli. We breezed by China and Norway and then made a stop in Mexico at La Cava del Tequila.

American trashcan

While I ran around taking pictures, Maggie and Wes found a spot in the shade.

Nice, Wes.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Maggie and I both got the Avocado margaritas. These are my favorite margaritas! It sounds crazy, but it’s so good!

We enjoyed our margaritas and the air conditioning. Did I mention it was really hot out today? I noticed that Maggie was looking a little burned and she pointed out the same to me. This turned into us poking each other on our sunburned shoulders and saying, “Ya burnt!”

We started up a conversation with a guy and girl at the table next to us. They were part of a Bachelor/Bachelorette party that was planning on drinking their way around World Showcase. They had some chips and salsa and the guy asked us if we wanted any. We said no thanks and he said “We didn’t double dip” to which the girl said “You didn’t? Oh, I did” Hahaha It was very nice of him to offer us their chips and salsa but we turned them down. They had to go join the rest of their group and we wished them luck on making it around the World. I’m not sure if they made it but I hope they did.

We made our way back around the World Showcase loop and that meant it was time for a cronut! AKA the croissant doughnut from the Refreshment Port and my absolute FAVORITE snack in all of WDW! Yes, I said it. It’s my favorite in the entire World.

Oh, you glorious, glorious treat you!

We took our delicious treat and grabbed a seat in the UK for the next British Revolution performance.

We had some company at our spot in the shade. There were two ducks and a squirrel (that sounds like the beginning of a really good joke…) But it was no joke…these guys really wanted my cronut and I wasn’t having it. And by “I wasn’t having it,” I mean they weren’t having any of my cronut.

Our feathered friend finally gave up and left us alone once I finished my cronut. While we waited for the band to come out, who should we run into but the number 1 groupie, Marie!

Me and the Number 1 Groupie

We parted ways with Marie and then had some time to kill before our Test Track FP+. We wandered through Innoventions to see what was going on in there nowadays and then found a spot on a bench right outside. It was so hot out and it felt awesome every time someone would come out of Innoventions because the cold air would blow by us.

We stayed on that wonderful bench for a few minutes and then made our way to TT.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

I like to design our car with the Price is Right style of spinning the wheel and picking whatever it lands on.

Our final product

Next up was dinner at San Angel Inn. This was another first for us. We love, and I mean LOVE, La Hacienda de San Angel so I was interested to try San Angel Inn. I have always loved the atmosphere of the restaurant and figured this was a good trip to give it a try.

I was happy to see that the chips and salsa was the same as at La Hacienda because chips and salsa are my favorite. Wes and Maggie wouldn’t let me get a good picture so I had to get some action shots.

We got a couple of appetizers and decided to share. We had already eaten so much at lunch and then had margaritas and a cronut that we weren’t very hungry. And we still had to save room for our dessert party! Yikes!!

Wes and Maggie got the Tostadas de Tinga and I got the Quesadillas Rozadas.

I thought the food here was just okay. I don’t think I would go again when La Hacienda de San Angel is right next door and sooo much better food. I did like the chips and salsa and really liked the atmosphere. It’s not on my must do’s but I would give it another try and maybe order something different in the future.

After dinner, naturally we took a relaxing boat ride on the Gran Fiesta Tour. We got a seat in the front of the boat and Maggie and Wes decided to spread out.

I told them to keep their legs and feet inside the boat at all times and they said that technically they were still inside the boat. Whatever

After dinner, we went back to Mouse Gear so I could get my Dad a Father’s Day gift. Today was Father’s Day so clearly I was a little late in getting a gift. I bought him a golf hat and then ended up getting him a golf shirt on the cruise.

It was about time to make our way to France to check in for our IllumiNations dessert party.

Bunny in the UK

Our dessert party location

Awesome gift bags for the First Annual WDWMagic/Kingdon Konsultant Family Cruise! Woo hoo!

We probably should have skipped dinner completely before the dessert party. We were still able to eat our fair share of desserts though.